New Music: Sockeye – Big Cash Prize

As a phrase, the title of Big Cash Prize is one that can be illusory in its end result. The complex and arpeggio-driven baroque of Sockeye’s new single, by contrast, exceeds expectations.

Sockeye was founded by Hayden Carr-Loize in Manhattan and has since grown to be a full band, one blessed with an unusual line-up, as here, an angelic falsetto and weeping strings add extra meaning to the band’s work.

That allows Sockeye to create songs like Big Cash Prize, ones that verge on the sacred but point out the failures and foibles of humanity. The track doesn’t so much focus on religion as it does on what drives people to lose themselves in belief, espousing the spiritual but still wanting their reward on earth. The track, then, almost functions like the Golden Calf – beguiling the listener with the promise of riches before neatly deflating egos and self-image.

Big Cash Prize is out now and will feature on GOD PACK, the new album from Sockeye, which is out on the 27th of March via Revelator Records. Get the latest album updates by following Sockeye on Instagram.